Dr. Peter Raven: Saving Plants, Saving Ourselves

Come meet sustainable visionary Dr. Peter H. Raven, one of the world's leading botanists and advocates of conservation and global biodiversity. Described by TIME Magazine as a "Hero for the Planet", Dr. Raven comes to Santa Cruz to talk on the importance of protecting the global botanical diversity. For Dr. Peter Raven, conserving plants involves saving ourselves. "You can't save biodiversity in isolation you can only save it in a sustainable world." Dr. Peter Raven

UCSC students free, $5 members, $10 non-members

About Peter Raven:

“A botanical garden is an incredible place to learn, an incredible microcosm of the whole beautiful world that we inhabit. Something that we should cherish.” Peter Raven

Peter H. Raven has been described by Edward O. Wilson as one of “the world’s foremost botanists and evolutionary biologists” of our time. His foresight and wisdom in promoting ecology, evolution, biology and conservation started in the 1960’s. He became Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden in the 1970’s. For four decades, he nurtured the institution into a world-class center for botanical research and education, and horticultural display establishing botanical gardens as centers of excellence in biodiversity research. From this position, he was an outspoken advocate for conservation and sustainability. He traveled the world to stir others into action, build networks and promote biodiversity in the face of habitat destruction. He has made speeches, lobbied politicians, and put scientists together for research projects. ''I specialize in networking,'' Dr. Raven said. ''There is an enormous kind of pleasure in working with people, helping them to realize what they want to do. I like to link people.'' His advocacy on conservation and sustainability led TIME magazine to call him, “Hero for the Planet” .

In recognition of his work in science and conservation, Dr. Raven is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the prestigious International Prize for Biology from the government of Japan and the U.S. National Medal of Science, the country's highest award for scientific accomplishment, and the Medal of Excellence from the National Arboretum, of which he is only the third recipient. He has held Guggenheim and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships. Raven is a member of the academies of science in Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, the U.K., and several other countries.

The author of numerous books and reports, both popular and scientific, Raven co-wrote Biology of Plants, an internationally best-selling textbook in botany, the eighth edition appeared in 2011. He also co-authored Environment, a leading textbook on the environment. He served as co-editor of Flora of China, a joint Chinese-American international project that resulted in the production of a contemporary, 49-volume account on all the plants of China, 31,500 species, that was completed in January, 2014. He has also been a driving force behind Flora of North America, a monumental effort to document and describe the wild plants of the United States, Canada and Greenland. Sixteen of the 30 volumes have been completed. His networking lurks behind these collaborative projects to catalogue and understand plants all the the world. In an age of habitat destruction and climate change, this long and steady work of documentation has become vitally important.

Dr. Raven received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1960 after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been awarded honorary degrees by a number of universities in the United States and around the world, most recently by Harvard University in May 2014.

Among Peter Raven’s many scientific achievements and awards his most enduring is his advocacy for conservation and sustainability. His colleagues say he has the unique ability to encompass all of life into a single lecture and to communicate his passion in plain language infused with humor to all audiences.

For detailed information: http://arboretum.ucsc.edu/events/collett-lectures/

If you are interested in sponsoring an educational event at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, please contact Jennifer Macotto, Associate Director of Development at 831-427-2998 or jmacotto [at] ucsc.edu